


Peter Parker's Countdown to Christmas

by Mystery_Name



Category: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)
Genre: Christmas Shopping, Cookies, Cute, Decorating, Don't Ask, Fluffy!, Hot Chocolate, Humor, Mistletoe, Other, Peter being a cute dork who loves his team, Snow fun!, breaking and entering into a kitchen, christmas one-shots, his team loving him back, with pranks involved of course
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-17 13:23:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystery_Name/pseuds/Mystery_Name
Summary: 12 days of Christmas - Spider-Man style!From snow fun, hanging up decorations, and mischevious mistletoe! Enjoy some Christmas fluff between Peter and his family and friends!





	1. Snow Fun!

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise!
> 
> This Christmas book of one-shots will only be 12 chapters long as I countdown the last 12 days till Christmas! :D Each prompt will be something new and Christmas based!
> 
> There will be new people from each of Peter's teams in each one-shot, all the way up to Francine Beck (from the "Moon Knight Before Christmas") to Adrien Tombs and Alex O' Hearn. These one-shots will take place after "Graduation Day!"
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Ultimate Spider-Man.

 

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

The lumpy pile of blankets groaned and shifted. A red-gloved hand shot out from the mess after a moment and groped around the bunk feebly.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

The lump groaned louder and this time a head popped out, disheveled hair with hazy eyes that stared into the absence of space, as he searched slightly more avidly for his wrist-communicator.

He found it a few moments later, down on the floor next to his discarded boots, fumbled with it a little more until he found the button that turned the invisibility off and answered the call emanating from its servers.

He groaned when Nova's face appeared on the screen.

" _Sam_ , it's Satuuuuurrrday. Whatd'you want?" Peter slurred, rubbing the grit from his eyes.

"Red alert, Webs!" Nova screeched back, and Peter suddenly noticed how hysteric he looked. "The city is under attack! The Avengers are gone - this is it, man. Endgame!"

Peter blinked owlishly, mouth gaping, then lurched from the bed, blankets forgotten. "Wha - what, Sam! What do you mean? What's going on?!" he rushed up from the bed and instantly tripped over the blanket twisted around his body. He kicked it off and scrambled for his boots. "Hang on, Sam! I'm coming! I'm coming!"

His reply was a horrified shriek and loud blasting noises.

Peter fumbled with his boots, pulling both on, only to realize they were on the wrong feet and tore them off again. Hopping, he switched them and grabbed his shirt from the floor. He was halfway across the room before he realized he didn't have his mask, and sprinted back, throwing blankets up through the air until he found it hidden underneath his pillow.

When it was on, somewhat lopsided, he ran for the nearest window, mind racing to figure out what could possibly be attacking the city.

Could it be Skrulls?

Hydra?

Skrulls posing as Hydra?

He gripped the windows pane, only to stop, suddenly struck. It was snowing outside. This discovery wouldn't have been so significant if not for that fact that, far across the bay, the city was overcast in grey-clouds and  _completely_  peaceful.

Peter scowled, stopping mid-way from flinging the window open.

Oh, that  _sneaky_ little weasel.

He flung the window open anyway and stuck out his head. "Yeah, nice try Sam! I'm not going to fall for the same trick twice!...Sam?"

Sam was not out there. Instead, far below on the slab of concrete and metal that Flint Marko usually stretched out on, Agent Venom and Dagger were staring up at him, waving innocently near a giant mound of snow.

His scowl deepened, "Where's -" all of the sudden a shadow loomed over him and Peter barely had time to look up before he got a face-full of snow. He sputtered, fell out of the window, and kept falling until landed face-first on the mound of snow far below on the ground.

He jerked back up, every trace of sleeping abandoning his body, and hastily shook the snow piled on his head and shoulders, as three people circling him erupted into raucous laughter. He peered slowly outside the mound, glaring at them with enough heat to stop winter.

"Oh man," Sam was guffawing, doubled-over, holding his phone in one hand while the other curled around his stomach. "Oh, that was  _so_  much better than last time!"

Tandy and Flash were in giant fits of laughter near him, leaning on each other as they gasped for air.

Peter sat up in the snow, arms folded. "Hardy - har, ever gonna get new material, Sam? This is getting old."

"Not when you keep _falling_  for it!" Sam said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"I didn't fall for it!" Peter sputtered, jumping to his feet. "That was deceitful and rude, and betrayal, and -  _stop laughing that pun wasn't even great!"_

"Sorry, Spidey, sorry," Flash apologized, though he was still breathless from laughter.

Tandy simply leaned over Sam's shoulder to rewatch the video, laughing with him again as Peter screams echoed through the phones filter.

"You've got to send that to me," she said.

"I sent that to  _everyone,_ " Sam grinned.

"That's what I do," he added graciously, "bringing that holiday spirit every year."

Peter glared at him, shaking his limbs to get rid of the sodden chill seeping into his clothes. He hadn't put on the thermal suit before he'd been so hastily drawn out of bed.

Sam was still giggling with Tandy and Flash as they watched the video again. Peter kicked the snow grumpily as he heard himself scream again. The nerve of some people! What happened to peaceful mornings?

One of these days he was going sabotage Sam with the biggest, coldest, most snowball-y snowball to ever grace the planet.

He was going to - huh...well...there was nothing like the present...

Slowly, Peter bent down and began scooping up snow. He kept an eye on the other three as he packed into his hands, building it bigger and bigger until it was a snowball worthy of the Hulk. Or Captain America, at least.

He aimed. "Hey, Buckethead!"

Sam looked over just in time to get a face full of snow with enough force to knock him onto his butt. Without hesitation, Peter scooped up more snow and began lobbing it at Tandy and Flash, who ducked their heads and ran for cover.

But he wouldn't overlook their betrayal so easily.

He followed them, bending down only to scoop up more snow, and pelted them with snowball after snowball until they began retaliating. Sam was all too eager to get him back and snuck up behind him, shoving a fistful of cold powder right in his face.

"Foul!" Peter screeched, shaking the snow from his lenses. "That's the correct term, right?"

Flash nodded, looking something like a proud coach.

Somewhere in their battle, Peter managed to sway Flash to his side.

"Come on," he had said. "Join me now and I'll overlook you're backstabbing."

"I don't know Spidey," Flash said, tossing a snowball up and down in his palm. "If sports taught me anything, it's to stay loyal to your team."

"But I AM your team," Peter argued, ducking behind his makeshift cover - the mound of snow he'd fallen on - as Sam rained artillery down on him, shouting at Peter to stop trying to take his players. "Come on, Web Warriors, right?"

Flash thought about it.

"Oh, alright," he threw his snowball at Tandy, who tottered back in the snow, shouting, "TRAITOR!"

"Thank goodness," Peter nearly wept with relief. "Because your aim is way better than mine."

After that, it was a perilous battle between Peter and Flash against Sam and Tandy. There were many whitewashes and gangs, a snow-angel break, then a grueling fight-to-the-death.

By the time the snow was more like mush than cotton, they settled on a wary-tie and hustled back into the building, sopping wet and shaking like a pair of maracas.

"Next time," Peter whispered-hissed at Sam as they, Tandy, and Flash huddled for warmth like penguins and hastened down the hall. "There will be no mercy."

"Whatever Webs, we'll see who has the power as soon as I send that video." Sam retorted, smirking triumphantly.

"Oh, you mean the video on this," Peter held up Sam's phone.

Sam gasped and lunged for it, but Peter danced away, scooching up the wall to stand on the ceiling.

"Webhead, give it back!" Sam barked, pointing a threatening finger at him.

"Make me!"

Sam lit up with the Nova Force and soared at Peter, who yelped and jumped out of the way, landing back on the ground. He hissed, hopping and grabbing his feet. "Ah, cold feet, cold feet, cold feet!"

"Give it to me!" Sam shouted, veering at him again.

"No!" Peter ran down the hall, phone still in hand, leaving a sopping, wet trail behind him. Sam was right on his tail, raining droplets of water, and yelling expletives.

Tandy and Flash watched amusedly as they disappeared around the bend, but the noise of their fight still bounced back to them.

"Next time," Tandy said. "We gang up on  _them_."

"Sounds like a game plan to me!" Flash beamed, fist-bumping her.

They winced as a loud crash erupted from the hall, followed by the fearful silence of Peter and Sam as the loud voice of the Director of SHIELD shouted, "SPIDER-MAN! NOVA! IN MY OFFICE!"

They shared a look and quickly walked in the other direction, trying to outrun the puddles of water they were leaving on the ground.

 


	2. Hot Chocolate!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, people get confused sometimes when I use the alter-ego names of some characters, so from now on I'll just include all the superhero identities/names of the character that will be showing up in this chapter to avoid confusion.
> 
> We have:
> 
> Spider-Man aka Peter Parker
> 
> Iron Fist aka Danny Rand
> 
> Vulture aka Adrien Toomes (thank you IAmKCS for giving me the correct spelling)
> 
> and Squirrel Girl aka Doreen Green.
> 
> Enjoy! ;)

 

* * *

_**2| Hot Chocolate** _

A day had passed since Peter's snowball fiasco with Sam, Tandy, and Flash, and he still felt like he had snow shoved up his ears.

How dare Sam attempt the same trick on him twice?

Forgetting the fact that it  _almost_ worked, it was still insulting. Come on, there were so many more pranks he could've gone with.

Unfortunately, his attempt to snag the phone and delete the video didn't work out quite as planned. He was close.

Too close for his pride to handle.

Just one click away from all his problems disappearing when the grand and mighty Director of SHIELD, Nick Fury himself, descended from his high office to tear him and Sam a new one for causing such a raucous in the hall.

He didn't even let Peter defend his  _obviously_ good motive for stealing Sam's phone in the first place, and was instantly punished with janitorial work for that day and the next. The rest of the day he'd spent mopping up all the water trails on the ground and scrubbing the vents clean, and now, the next day, he was sentenced to cleaning up the classrooms.

But, it could be worse. He could have  _Sam's_ jobs of cleaning out the SHIELD bathrooms. Those johns had to be toxic at times because  _yuck._

Thinking about Sam's fate made him feel a bit better about his own job, to be honest.

Peter already cleaned up most of the classrooms, which were generally pretty clean already. The instructors didn't usually tolerate a lot of messes, which went surprisingly well with keeping a group of superhero teenagers in the same room.

Unless it was Hawkeye.

Hawkeye made as much of a mess than Peter or any of his teammates ever had.

After this, he had the dormitory to do. Which was exactly  _opposite_ to the classrooms. With so many people living in the same space, things were BOUND to get dirty. Not even the clean-freaks like Ava, Danny, or (surprisingly) Triton could keep it orderly. Peter's talked to Fury about giving them a bit more space, but he'd simply grumbled something about needing an entire city to get enough room, which Peter took as a vague maybe.

He picked up his bucket of waters and mop and trudged away from the last classroom, finally finished with the last speck of dust the room had to offer. Peter knew SHIELD had cleaning bots around here somewhere (they certainly had the technology for it), so a regular ol' map and broom seemed like such a step-down.

Fury only kept such ancient methods of spy-cleaning around to torture them no doubt. What could possibly go wrong with letting him use a complex, multi-functioning machine on the Academy?

While  _he_  was in here scrubbing away, everybody else was off doing things 1000X better. A few were on patrol, but MJ, Ava, Luke, Ben, and Miles went with Aunt May and Rio Morales to pick up Christmas decorations and groceries, Flint and Amadeus were checking out a new bowling alley, Flash and Tandy were doing some Christmas shopping, and KaZar and Zabu were strolling around Central Park (with permission from authorities of course, cause Sabretooth's weren't quite like the regular alleycats of NYC). Even Doreen was off the hook, asleep with her squirrels in her bunk because she was on hibernation-leave.

Peter adjusted his grip on the sloshing buckets of water, shouldered his mop and broom, and strode out into the hall with as much dignity as he could muster.

Agents milled around, doing their spyly duties, but he was ignored. A few gave him passing smiles, some greeted him, but he was generally left alone. While normally he'd strike up a conversation with any agents hanging around, there was just no talking for the condemned.

The room was still dark when he finally walked into the dorm. He adjusted the lights, just a little, to compensate for Doreen, who was fast asleep in her bunk, tails curled around her legs with dozens of squirrels heaped into her blankets, laying on her head, or bunched into little heaps on her tail.

He tip-toed inside and set to work putting dirty costumes into the laundry slots to be cleaned, carefully setting half-finished trinkets of Amadeus's in his bunk, books in the shelf near Ava's bed, Sam's Gameboy back in his things, KaZar's spear in his closest, Tritons Attilian gizmos with his things, and any fallen acorns and pecans back in Doreen's bunk in case the squirrels decided on a mid-winter snack.

He stopped near Flash's bunk, eyeing the football resting on the ground. Glancing around, making sure Monkey-Joe and Tippy Toes weren't sneaking a peak, he picked the football up, spinning it in his hands. Flash has been teaching him and Amadeus more about sports lately, and football was on their list right now.

Peter mimicked the grip Flash taught him to get maximum throwing-power and eased into a throwing position.

 _Gotta throw it hard,_ he remembered Flash saying.  _Aim with your hips, arm back, and throw. Piece of cake._

"Piece of cake," Peter muttered, copying what Flash said. "Aim hips...arm back...and... _throw_."

He threw it.

Hard.

The football hit the opposite wall with tremendous force and it ricocheted back, going right for Doreen's bunk. He gasped, lurching forward, shooting a web that connected with the football just before it connected with Doreen's head, and yanked it back.

The football sailed over his shoulder just as the door behind him open, followed by a surprise shout and a WHACK! Peter winced, whirling around to see Danny and Adrien, Adrien of whom was rubbing his head where the football had hit him.

Peter gasped again, clamping a hand over his mouth. "Oh my gosh, I'm so  _sorry_." He whispered.

"I'm okay," Adrien winced, kicking the football away. "What are you doing here all alone, dark, and desolate."

(Peter wasn't sure when he was going to get used to Adrien's emo tendency, but if he could understand Zen-speak he could get the hang of this too.)

"Just," he waved his hand out dismissively, "Cleaning up...because it's messy...and we're not animals...despite, you know, being animal themed..."

"You got in trouble with Director Fury, didn't you," Danny said.

Peter's shoulders fell, "Yeah," he admitted. "Anyway, what are you guys doing here? How did patrol go?"

Adrien shrugged, "It seems criminals don't fight in weather as cold as their intentions."

Peter blinked, "So...you... _didn't_ catch any bad guys?"

"No," Danny answered. "Crime was slow tonight. As Vulture said, the criminals don't like fighting in the cold." He shivered, as if remembering, and strode across the room, grabbed his blanket, and wrapped it around his shoulders.

Adrien was shaking too. Now that Peter was looking he noticed the puddles of water dripping on the floor and the excessive shaking. It must've been freezing out there. Patrols in the winter were the  _worst._

"Hey, you guys alright?" Peter asked, grabbing a blanket for Vulture too. "You're shaking worse than Nova when he sees a bunny."

"I've been better," Adrien admitted, teeth chattering.

"It was certainly a cold night tonight," Danny added, furrowing in his blanket.

Peter frowned. He needed to talk to Fury about better thermals, if they were going to patrol out in such cold weather they at least needed to be better prepared. Crimefighting while sick is not an ideal situation.

"Well, you guys focus on getting warm," he said, giving them each another set of blankets,  _just in case_. "Where's Cloak and Scarlet? They were on patrol too, right?"

"Cloak met up with Dagger to go Christmas shopping and Scarlet headed back to Queens," Danny said. "We'll be meeting up later, Vulture and I came back to file our report on patrol."

The thought of filing reports made Peter cringe. After hours of scouring the city, all you wanted to do was go home and get in warm pajamas, not sit and write a tedious report on how many times a crook managed to land a hit on your face.

At least before SHIELD, he didn't have to do that. He could come home when the snow was too thick for crime to grow, get in his comfiest pajamas, make himself some hot chocolate and do homework while he hung out with Aunt May.

Wait...

Huh, that's actually not a bad idea. Can't hang out with Aunt May in pajamas tonight, but there was something else they could do.

Peter grinned, looking back at Danny and Adrien who were trudging their feet to their bunks, Danny with a SHIELD tablet in hand to write his report on.

"Hold up," Peter said, drawing their attention. "I'm calling an official, superhero-post-patrol hot chocolate break. Come on," he waved them over, "let's go."

"Uh...what?" Adrien said.

"Hot chocolate," Peter repeated. "Come on, I know a way to get in the kitchens without getting caught. I know they have hot chocolate mix in there, we all know that Agent Joe hates coffee, yet he's been sipping  _something_ every morning."

Adrien and Danny shared a look.

"Are you sure about this?" Danny asked, only a  _little_ wary.

Peter scoffed, "Pssh, of course. When am I not sure?... Don't - don't answer that, actually. Come on, it'll be okay."

Adrien looked at Danny, who shrugged and smiled, heading toward the door. Peter beamed as Adrien followed, but swung across the room before they left and poked Doreen softly.

"Hey," he whispered. "Squirrel Girl? Doreen? Are you awake?"

She hummed, groaned, and wearily lifted her head, blinking dazedly at him as if she wasn't sure who he was.

"Sp - Spidey?" She rasped after a moment of blinking and rubbing her eyes. "What's wrong? Is there an attack?"

"No. No, everything is good. Me, Danny, and Adrien are headed down to the cafeteria. Just wanted to you know if you wanted a bit of hot chocolate, is all."

Her eyes brightened. "Really? Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. I'll come with you."

He beamed. "Sweet!"

Doreen's mentioned once or twice how she felt kind of left-out during the winter holidays, mostly because of her tendency to fall asleep between the space of an hour or two. Peter figured she might appreciate being invited to things more often. Besides, who didn't like a good ol' cup of hot chocolate?

She clambered out of the bunk, careful not to wake her squirrel companions, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders as well, and acquainted Peter to the door where Danny and Adrien were waiting.

* * *

 

* * *

The great thing about having to rebuild the Triskelion every other week was that it gave you ample opportunity to get personal with the building. Peter's gone over the schematics of the Academy so many times he could name off every section of the building like it was AP Chemistry.

This usually worked in his favor when escaping Fury or when he needed a bit of alone time when the stress began piling up. Besides, if he were being honest, he might have unceremoniously added a few little tunnels/vents that just  _happened_ to lead to places of interest. Like, a lab, per se. Or a hatch outside, or tunnel to the top of the building, or a vent that led straight into the cafeteria kitchens.

He'd told the rest of his beverage crew to wait outside as he crawled through the vent and popped into the kitchen, where once inside, he unlocked the door and let them in.

"Since when was that there?" Danny inquired as Peter quietly shut the door, pointing at the opened vent cover.

"Well..." Peter began, rubbing his neck. "Maybe the kitchens need to air out more. Heh-heh...heh-he-..." he cleared his throat. " _Anyway_..."

Danny rolled his eyes but grinned. "Uh-huh,  _right._ "

Peter whistled ' _Jingle Bells_ ' as he rummaged through the immense kitchen cupboards. It was pretty late as it was, so the kitchen staff will have called it a night by now. Which was good because the Chef of the kitchen, a feisty young man named Keegan, did NOT tolerate food being taken from his kitchen. Peter's almost been caught sneaking snacks more than one time to  _ever_ feel safe with Keegan around.

Doreen and Adrien sat on top the counter watching silently as Danny helped Peter locate the chocolate mix. Doreen seemed to be dozing again and jerked back up when her head began to tilt, clutching the edge of the counter as if she were about to fall. Adrien patted her shoulder, somewhat timidly.

"Ah-HA!" Peter said triumphantly, holding a container of powdery brown mix peppered with small, dried marshmallows. "Thank you, Joe!"

Danny retrieved four mugs from a shelf as Peter took out a pan and began bowling water on the stove.

"I'd use milk but I'm pretty sure Keegan's been keeping track of it, so we better not risk it," Peter said.

"How often do you come in here?" Adrien asked, bewildered.

Peter waved his hands, "Eh, enough to know that Keegan is  _way_ paranoid. Do EVER try and sneak into his pastries, by the way, I almost lost an ear."

It wasn't long before the water was bowling and he took it off the stove, filled the mugs, and added an unhealthy dose of mix. Stirring it until it was well-blended, he handed one to each of them in turn, then grabbed his own and sat up on the counter as well, kicking his feet softly as he rolled up his mask, blew steam away, and took a dainty sip.

"Soooooo," he said graciously after they all had a moment to savor the sweet beverage, "who'd  _you_  guys get for Secret Santa?"

"We're not supposed to tell," Adrien said, taking a timid sip from his own mug. "Isn't that the point?"

"Aw come on, you can tell me. As in, you can tell me who  _got_  me. Come on, was it Luke? I bet it was Luke."

"I'm not saying anything," Adrien said, hiding his mouth in his mug.

Peter turned to Danny, "Come on, Fist. At least give me a hint?"

"Why take away from the surprise when I can enjoy it?" He remarked, curling his fingers around the warm porcelain with a tender smile. "You'll see on Christmas, Spider. Be patient."

Peter groaned. "But I don't wanna be patient."

Nearby, Doreen smiled into her mug. "I can't wait to give my person their present. I got just before hibernation set in too heavy. Almost fell asleep trying to hide it though," she laughed.

"I actually still need to go Christmas shopping," Adrien admitted. "It's just - uh, I - I haven't really been in the city since, you know, coming out of Hydra's control. Like, I'm always been above it, watching it run from a distance, but...I fear I might get lost if I stick to the ground."

Peter swung an arm around his shoulder. "Hey, I can go with ya. I still needed to some shopping myself, it all works out!"

"You...you don't mind?" Adrien asked timidly.

"Of course not. Just as long as you don't mind Spider Woman coming along too."

"I don't mind," he said, looking down pleasantly in his cup.

They were snapped out of their musing by a loud slam and clanging footsteps.

"I got you now!" A voice seethed from the back pantries. "Menacing kitchen thief, when I get my hands on you..."

Peter nearly spit up his hot chocolate. "It's Keegan!" he whispered-shrieked, "RUN!  _Run for it! Hurry! No - take the mugs, we can't leave evidence!"_

They jumped from the counter and sprinted across the kitchen with as much grace and caution it took not to spill their precious drink. Peter yanked the door open, ushered everybody out, and slammed it shut just as an angry face appeared out of the pantry.

He hot-footed it out of the cafeteria, through the halls, and back in the dorms where they hid in a dark closet, sipping their drink, hoping the angry kitchen chef wouldn't sniff them out before they finished.

"This was fun," Adrien commented, sitting on a heap of Peter's dirty laundry, looking actually genuine about it.

"As it usually is when Spider is around," Danny said, legs crossed the same way he did for meditation as he sipped the last of his drink.

"We better wait just a  _little_ longer to make sure the coast is clear," Peter said. "Keegan gives no mercy. Squirrel Girl, how're you holding up?"

Doreen was already fast asleep on the ground, mug empty, with a peaceful smile on her face.

When the coast was clear, Peter picked up Doreen and carefully put her back in her bunk, helped Adrien and Danny with their report as he finished cleaning the dorms, and headed back up to Fury's office to officially resign from his janitorial duties.

Halfway there Peter heard an angry noise and mumbles about a "kitchen thief" up ahead, and quickly spun on his heels and hastened in the opposite direction.

As much as he wanted to go home, he wanted to keep both ears intact, thank you very much.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done! :D
> 
> Is was so much fun! Guys, I'm so excited to write these! It's kind of nice to write something calm, peaceful, and fluffy as opposed to sadness, torture, and angst. Maybe we'll see it more often ;)
> 
> See you tomorrow!
> 
> -OfficialUSMWriter out!


	3. Deck the Halls!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this is so late. There was a funeral and it was a full weekend and such. Don't worry, we'll still have 12 chapters. I might just have to double update.
> 
> Also, keep a look-out for a special update to my one-shot book tonight. A very awesome friend of mine wrote me a one-shot that I will be adding to my "Being There For You" book. *stage whispers* it involves Wolf Spider.
> 
> People in one-shot.   
> Peter Parker   
> Luke Cage  
> MJ Watson  
> Harry Osborn  
> And Norman Osborn.  
> (Francine Beck is mentioned - she is the daughter of Mysterio.)
> 
> For now enjoy this!!!

 

"Are they up there?"

Peter scooted farther up into the dingy little attic space, shoving boxes aside as he squinted through the dust. He glanced out of the square doorframe in the floor, down at Luke, who had his hands braced on the ladder to keep it steady.

"I don't know, ask her if she's sure we didn't just throw them out," Peter said, pulling the rest of himself into the small space and army-crawling across the old floorboards.

Below him Luke took a mighty inhale, "AUNT MAY, PETER WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU'RE SURE YOU DIDN'T THROW THEM AWAY!"

Peter heard jumbled noises downstairs, too muddled to pick out distinct words, as MJ, Harry, Norman, and Aunt May conversed.

"AUNT MAY SAYS SHE'S POSITIVE THEY'RE UP THERE AND FOR PETER TO LOOK HARDER!" MJ yelled when the talking died down.

Peter shoved aside more boxes and peered critically into those that were labeled 'Christmas Decor.' None of them held his esteemed prize.

"Tell Aunt May that I still can't find them."

"HE SAYS HE STILL CAN'T FIND THEM!"

More noise.

"AUNT MAY SAYS THAT HE BETTER NOT MAKE HER COME UP THERE AND LOOK HERSELF!"

"Aunt May says that you better not make her come up here and-"

"I heard her, Luke. Thanks." Peter grumbled. He shuffled forward until he was close to the opposite wall, flashing the light from his phone left and right, as he rummaged through old trinkets, blankets, and memorabilia. An old scrapbook caught his eyes. In the front it held an old photo of a younger looking Aunt May and Uncle Ben, smiling as they stood near a multi-tiered wedding cake. Peter grinned, glanced over his shoulder as if to make sure no one was watching, and flipped to a random page. Instantly he bristled.

The picture he'd flipped to was of him when he was 6, splashing wildly in the bathtub because he was covered head-to-toe in dirt. He also happened to be wearing nothing but a wide, uneven smile that seemed to center on his missing two-front teeth.

He cringed and slammed the scrapbook shut, pushing it far away into the corner for good measure. Uh all the picture they could've taken, why was it that one? Earth-Day at school had been fun at the time, but had he known that getting so dirty would later come back and bite him, he would have never gone outside at all.

Better not let the team see that. He could never hear the end of it.

"HARRY WANTS TO KNOW WHATS TAKING SO LONG!" MJ shouted.

"I'm still looking."

"HE SAYS HE'S STILL LOOKING!" Luke shouted.

"TELL HIM TO LOOK FASTER!"

Peter reached the back wall. "There's nothing up here, I can't find them!"

"HE SAYS THERE'S NOTHING UP HERE AND THAT HE CAN'T-"

"Oh, wait!" Peter called, "Here it is," he grabbed an old, worn box with Christmas trees and snowflakes drawn messily on the sides. A testimony of his poor childhood skills. "I found it."

"NEVER MIND HE SAYS HE FOUND IT!"

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!" It was Harry who shouted this.

Peter grumbled about impatience as he backwards crawled to the attic hatch, pulling the box after him. When he was close he pivoted on his stomach and held the box out for Luke, who, with his incredible height, grabbed it easily.

Unfortunately, they both underestimated how long it's been sitting in the attack, as a puff of dust followed the box's descent into Luke's arms and erupted into a mini mushroom cloud right in his face. Luke stumbled back, sputtering and coughed as he dropped the box to wipe crazily at his face, which did little to nothing even with the plastic cleaning gloves on his hands.

"AGH!" He coughed again, "Man, a little warning next time. I'm gonna have to do two facemasks tonight." He shook as much of the dirt off as he could and wiped his face off with the frilly pink apron Aunt May had lent him.

Peter ignored the ladder and jumped down, landing easily next to Luke, wiping his own hands off on his pants.

"On the bright side, we found the box," he said.

"Yeah, but at what cost, man?" Luke groaned, forlornly wiping dust off the white, curly words adorning the aprons' front till "Kiss the Cook" could be seen through the grim once more.

Peter shrugged innocently, which sent a small cascade of dust rolling off his shoulder and hair. The whole front of his shirt was scuffed and covered in it. He smiled sheepishly as Luke looked him up and down with a new sort of pained disgust, and picked the box back up.

"Sorry 'bout that. But, hey, two facemasks tonight. That's fun right?"

Luke glared at him.

Peter coughed roughly, "Er, anyway, come on. I wouldn't put it past Aunt May to actually come up here herself."

They bumbled down the stairs, Luke still griping about the dust, and into the living room where the rest of their decorating coterie was present.

"What took you so long?" Harry asked, taking the box from Peter's hands to set it on the living room table, alongside the other large assortment of lights, clay snowmen, and candles.

"You try calling through that attic, I've called through vents bigger than that. Besides, do you know how much dust I inhaled?" Peter gestured to his dirtied clothes. "Too much I tell you."

"Well, at least you found it," Aunt May said, ruffling his hair a bit, sending another puff of dust into the air. She pulled away, nose crinkling. "But, uh, perhaps you should go get changed real quick. Oh, and wash your face. You look like that time you got home from Earth Day? Remember that? I mean, you were covered head to toe in dirt. Ben and I had to-"

"Nope," Peter interrupted quickly, making a beeline for the kitchen. "Sorry. Not ringing a bell. I'm just gonna go clean myself."

In the kitchen, Norman was busying himself with the heaps of plastic leaves and red berries bunched on the countertop, stacking them them carefully so they wouldn't fall. He greeted Peter with a small nod of his head, which Peter returned, but otherwise kept to his task.

It was definitely a first having Norman Osborn there to help decorate his house for Christmas. Harry's been over before, but never with his dad. As he washed his hands, Peter tried not to think back on Norman's time as the Goblin and how different right now would be if he was still mutated. Because if Peter did, all he could think about was Goblin strangling him with a string of Christmas lights as "Jingle-Bell Rocks" played in the background. Which only made the situation more awkward.

Aunt May thought it'd be good for Norman to get into some real festivities, especially after learning that Harry and his dad didn't usually decorate their home, and if they ever did, it was for a Christmas party. And even then, the decorating was done by someone else. Knowing Aunt May, that just wouldn't do.

But it was still a bit...unusual. Peter's been around Norman more recently, especially after finding out Norman knew about his alter ego, but it was still pretty awkward at times.

There was loud rustle behind him and a small curse, and Peter turned in time to see Norman bend down and pick up a small pile of fallen leaves. Norman quickly dumped them back on the counter, straightened his tie, and walked out of the room, task complete, as if he were general leaving a war room.

Norman could be pretty hard to read sometimes, but Peter was getting the vague impression that he was feeling just as awkward as Peter was.

Peter quickly finished washing himself up, ran upstairs to get changed, and came back just in time for Aunt May to be giving out orders.

"MJ and Luke, you two will be doing the living room," they fist bumped," Harry, Peter, you two are putting lights up outside," Peter and Harry whooped and high-fived, "and Norman you can help me in the kitchen." Norman smiled graciously, but it looked a bit too practiced.

"Well, let's get on with it," Aunt May clapped her hands and they all dispersed. As Luke and MJ began discussing what garland would look best near the fireplace, Peter and Harry bundled the lights in their arms, stopped to get their coats and shoes on, and hurried out onto the front porch.

The sky was overcast and grey but it wasn't snowing. Good, Peter hated working in the snow. It did things to his spider-sense.

"Hey, do you think I need to go back and get the ladder?" Harry asked, looking up at the high trimmings of the house roof.

Peter lifted his palm, wiggling his fingers in front of Harry, "Nah, I got this. Sticky hands, remember."

"But what about," Harry's voice dropped to a whisper. "What about, you know, you're secret identity?"

"It'll be fine so long as no one see's me," Peter shrugged, and looked left and right. Normally, he wouldn't display his powers out in the open, but ever since Harry found it, he's been feeling a bit more rebellious with it. Not enough to stand in Time Square and rip his mask off, but enough to do the odd trick here and there.

Besides, it was fun indulging in his powers in front of Harry. Heaven knows he's wanted to since the first day he got them.

"Keep an eye out for me," Peter told him, and Harry nodded, glancing around critically that anything that so much as looked suspicious. Peter looked up and down the street once more, and then jumped, pulling himself on the wall, flipping up, and landing on the roof within a few seconds.

He looked back down at Harry, who was watching him with a wide grin. Harry shook his head, "I still can't believe you're, well, you know, him."

Peter smiled, "It's nice that you finally know, Har. It sucked keeping it from you."

Harry bent down and bundled up the first set of lights. "It sucked not knowing. I mean, So many things make sense now! And, honestly, Sandwich club? You couldn't think of anything else?"

Peter glowered at that, "Yeah, yeah, aren't we supposed to be hanging lights?"

Harry tossed him the first set and they began the cold work of stringing them along the nails already hammered into the wall. Peter remembered watching Uncle Ben hammer them in one winter. He'd held the can of nails, passing them to Uncle Ben whenever he needed a new one. Peter had wanted to hammer one in himself, but Uncle Ben told him he was still a bit too young.

Looking back on it now, Peter was very thankful that Uncle Ben had taken the time to put up a permanent solution to hanging lights. He adhered the idea of having to renail them every year. He already despised the cold as it was.

With a bit of spidery-abilities on their side, he and Harry were able to put the lights up in record time.

Until they realized that they had started on the wrong end of the house, where there were no outlets or plugs, and had to take them all down and redo them.

By the time they were finished, they're fingers were red and numb, cheeks nipped from the cold, and they were shivering so bad that they shed all their snow in the entry. They hung up their sopping coats and mittens and hustled into the warmth of the living room.

They slowed their walk as they entered. The fireplace was strewn with a red garland that curled around the picture frames, with glass snowmen nestled within. Pine-scented candles were placed strategically around the room, giving off a fresh, Christmas-y scent of pines. Soft glowing lights lined the perimeter and glittering icicles and mistloe hung from the archway leading into the kitchen. Peter took a mental note to stay away from the mistletoe.

Luke and MJ did a wonderful job. A winter-wonderland good job.

Peter spotted the two in the corner of the room, backs to them as they whispered back and forth. Peter nudged Harry and they crept over, peering over the two's shoulders.

Peter gasped, "Hey, didn't Aunt May have a rule about this?"

Luke and MJ whirled around, hiding their fingers behind their backs.

"Rule? Rule about what?" MJ asked innocently.

Harry folded his arms and shared a look with Peter. "I think you know what we mean," he said.

With a sigh, Luke and MJ revealed their hands. Their fingers were covered in a green, waxy cast from where they'd been dipping them in the candle wax.

Instead of reprimanding them, as Aunt May would've wanted, Peter looked over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear, and dipped his own fingers in the melting green wax of the candle, feeling a childish giddiness bubble in his chest as it cooled on his fingers.

"Why is this so satisfying?" Harry murmured after doing the same, watching the wax dry on his fingers in infatuation.

They all shrugged, taking turns dipping their fingers in the wax, until a sharp "heh-hem," piped up behind their back and they turned, guilty hiding their fingers.

Aunt May quirked an eyebrow, staring them down until they all sighed and showed her their hands.

"Aren't you getting a bit too young for this?" She said, though Peter didn't fail to notice the way her lips twitched upward.

"It's so cool, though" Luke defended, peeling off the wax with a satisfied smile. "I can't help it."

"Well, go wash it off. We have one more thing to do."

They all glanced back toward the bare tree in the corner, grinned, and hastened into the kitchen, elbowing for room at the sink as they washed their hands. Aunt May watched them amused, catching Norman's eyes slyly, before dipping her own fingers in the wax.

"He's right," she told Norman, "it is satisfying."

Once everyone was assembled again they began the final part of their Christmas preparations.

Decorating the tree.

Stringing the lights went pretty smoothly. Up until the end, when Peter had to climb the wall so he and Luke could get the top, almost resulting in Peter falling on the tree. Once that was more-or-less achieved, they hung colorful glass ornaments on the branches, little clay snowpeople, silvery snowflakes, and the contents of the box Peter had scavenged from the attic - small, ornamental picture frames of Peter when he was younger.

There were more now, thanks to a bit of extended family. The Ultimates, Web Warriors, and New Warriors were all present on the tree now, harbored in their own Christmas-y picture frames. They even had one for Norman this year, who had looked at it in astonishment. But there was no denying his pleasant smile as he placed it on the tree, right next to Harry's.

Once they were finished they all collapsed on the couch, surveying their work. Peter sat next to Aunt May, who ruffled his dusty hair wordlessly. Smiling at the tree, Harry took the seat next to him. MJ sat on the couch arm next to Harry, and Luke on the other side of May. Norman took the armchair nearby, looking so out of place in his bright Christmas sweater, sitting in Peter's living room, that Peter almost pinched himself to make sure he was still awake.

Which reminded him that he needed to get his own ugly Christmas sweater soon. He's told Francine about their ugly sweater contest, whom got excited claiming that her family did the same, and looked positively  _in-it-to-win-it_. If Peter wanted a chance at winning this year, he needed to up his game.

"Hey Pete, you still gonna do the caroling thing the medias' been talking about?" Luke asked, tinkering with the little leaves set on the table near the couch.

Peter's nose pinched. "Wait, they're  _actually_  doing that?"

"Doing what?" Aunt May asked.

"Tony Stark set up a new charity. It's called Carol of the Heroes. Basically, he's getting a bunch of heroes, both inside and out of the Avengers, to go caroling to raise money for the 'Make-A-Wish' foundation and children's hospital." MJ explained. "The Bugle has been going crazy over it."

Peter glowered just thinking of the news channel. "Well, that sounds like one reason not to do it."

Aunt May turned on him, aghast. "Peter, you should join in. You have an amazing singing voice."

Peter blushed and buried his nose in his mug, "Aunt May," he whined.

"C'mon Peter, even Triton is doing it." Luke said, jostling his shoulder. "Besides, think of the kids. The  _kids_."

Did he have to bring the kids into this? Peter could barely sing in front of his school, how was he expected to sing in front of thousands of people, and thousands more who would be watching it on TV. No way, nuh-uh, not happening.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Aunt May said in a way that told Peter that he had the option of doing it willingly, or being cornered into it. He knew she would never actually make him do it if he didn't want to, but she did have a funny tendency to be super convincing when she wanted to be.

"Fine," he conceded, "I'll think about it."

Aunt May smiled at her mug, blowing the steam from it daintily. "Of course."

Instead of thinking about the evil glint in her eyes, Peter focused back on the tree, sipping his hot chocolate, and watching as snow began tumbling outside.

Singing for millions while in costume was an issue he could dread later. For now, he was just going to chillax.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, there we go!! :D hope you guys enjoyed!!!  
> I recently watched "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and AHHHHHH!! It was fantastic!!!! :D I loved it SO MUCH!!!
> 
> Catch ya later! ;)
> 
> -OfficialUSMWriter/MysteryName

**Author's Note:**

> WHOO! First one, complete! These will generally be pretty short, probably just 1,000+ words each, but there will be one uploaded every day until Christmas! :D It's okay if you don't celebrate Christmas though, and you can just enjoy some goofy kids.
> 
> See tomorrow ;)
> 
> -OfficialUSMWriter out!


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